CHAPTER 40: SECRET REALM

There are two types of secret realms.

The first is called a Natural-Born Secret Realm. These appear on their own after countless years in places no one has touched. When a location is left alone for millions of years, spiritual energy slowly builds up. That energy might come from ancient ley lines, special elements underground, or even rare events in the sky. Over time, the area begins to change—trees grow that don’t exist anywhere else, spirit beasts evolve in strange ways, and rare treasures start to form. These places are wild and unstable, but filled with raw, ancient energy.

The second type is known as a Crafted Realm. These are made on purpose—either through special formation techniques or by an extremely powerful cultivator who has reached the Peak Divine Realm. At that level, their will alone can shape space and create a realm. These kinds of secret realms are often built to hide treasures, test disciples, train in isolation, or seal dangerous things away. The stronger the creator, the more stable and advanced the realm becomes.

If the portal in this cave is one of those crafted realms, then someone incredibly strong must have left it here intentionally.

But if it’s a natural one...

"...Then it makes sense why even that python never wandered too far," Mu Qin muttered with a slight smirk.

She felt something radiating from the portal—a faint scent of ancient herbs, a quiet stillness, and a heavy, undisturbed pressure that seemed to echo across time.

"Maybe this is why the beast was able to evolve..." she murmured.

As she stepped through the blue portal, the magic rippled around her—and in the blink of an eye, the scenery changed.

Before her stretched a vast, icy-blue plain under a snow-white sky. Ice petals were drifting gently in the air, glowing faintly. The sight was breathtaking—not ordinary snowflakes, but frozen cherry blossom petals, tinted a soft blue.

Her eyes locked onto a single massive tree standing in the center of the realm. It wasn’t part of a forest—just one immense tree rising from the middle of the plain, surrounded by silence and snow.

She slowly made her way toward it, eyes narrowed in curiosity. "What kind of place is this...?"

As she reached out to touch the tree’s bark, her hand suddenly froze—literally. A layer of frost crept up her fingers in an instant.

"I was careless," she muttered, pulling back. Her fingers had already turned stiff and pale.

She quickly pulled out a pill from her spatial ring and swallowed it. A warm energy spread through her body, and a soft snow-like mist radiated from her skin, neutralizing the frostbite. Her color returned.

"Hm. It’s an Extreme ice-type tree... and probably the core of this secret realm."

Her tone shifted to thoughtful. She already understood the method of claiming ownership over secret realms—and this one was indeed a natural-born realm. That explained why it had such pure energy and untamed beauty.

"I already have one... I’ll leave this to my disciple instead," she said with a faint smile.

She pressed her right hand forward, releasing a soft white flame across her palm. It shimmered with snow-like patterns. She etched a mark onto the tree, temporarily binding the realm’s ownership to her name.

After doing so, she stepped out of the sacred grove. The realm behind her began to shift—the portal slowly closing. Now that she’d marked it, she could open it from anywhere, whenever she wished.

But she wasn’t finished yet.

She began to explore the rest of the realm, her divine sense stretching across the vast icy expanse. She wondered if there were more divine-level beasts hidden here.

In the end, she found three more.

The first was a massive beast called the Ice Mystic Mountain Turtle—a creature with a shell that resembled a frozen mountain range. It was a spirit-nurtured cultivator beast, one that had grown by absorbing all kinds of heaven and earth treasures. This turtle had an enormous shell that could serve as a natural medicine garden, capable of growing many rare herbs.

She successfully captured it.

The second was the Frost Thunder Hawk—a sleek, divine-level avian beast known for its incredible speed and mastery over both ice and thunder. She fought it briefly but ultimately sealed it as well.

And then, finally, she looked toward the depths of the vale—where the strongest Divine Beast awaited.

She moved toward it, making sure she was at her peak before arriving. And when she did, she saw it.

A long dragon.

It was draped in a deep, icy-blue glow, with frozen jade horns spiraling from its head and a powerful pressure radiating from its body.

"It’s Strong compared to others... but not stronger than me," she thought as she calmly stepped closer.

The dragon uncoiled sensing her presence.

Its body stretched over a hundred meters—like a silver mountain of ice rising into the sky. Its scales shimmered with a cold, bluish hue, and sharp ridges ran down its back like frozen blades. Two curved horns twisted from its head, jagged and glassy, as if carved from ancient glacier stone.

But what stood out most were its eyes.

Ancient. Intelligent. And filled with the gaze of a predator.

"Human, why are you here?" it rumbled, voice cold and vast."Leave before I decide to kill you."

Mu Qinxue only smiled as she stepped forward, meeting its gaze fearlessly.

"A dragon... trying to scare me away?" she muttered, confused at first—then smirked. "Or... is it actually scared of me? A mere human?" she added mockingly.

The dragon’s eyes narrowed.

Then, with a roar that shook the entire vale, it lunged.

Frost surged forward in waves. Ice spikes erupted from the ground beneath her feet, while a howling blizzard burst from the dragon’s maw like a frozen tsunami.

Mu Qinxue’s expression sharpened.

She dashed forward, body flickering like wind-blown snow.

"Void Lotus—First Form: Phantom Bloom."

A black lotus shield burst into existence in front of her, taking the brunt of the frost breath. It shattered instantly—but the delay was enough.

She vanished from sight.

Appearing above the dragon’s head, her sword already glowing.

"Falling Petal Severing Art—Sixth Form: Blooming Requiem!"